Indian healthcare industry's demand for workforce to double to 7.4 million in 2022

The Indian healthcare industry is seeing a robust growth trajectory and is expected to grow vigorously at a CAGR of 16 per cent from $73.92 billion in 2011 to $280 billion in 2020, said FICCI-KPMG report 'Healthcare: The neglected GDP driver.'Neha Madaan | TNN | Updated: September 05, 2015, 08:15 IST

Most of the projects provide medical facilities including nursing assistance, doctor on call and ambulance services. However, there have been reports of dwindling healthcare assistance in senior living projects involving outright sale.PUNE: The Indian healthcare industry is seeing a robust growth trajectory and is expected to grow vigorously at a CAGR of 16 per cent from $73.92 billion in 2011 to $280 billion in 2020, said FICCI-KPMG report 'Healthcare: The neglected GDP driver.'

The report was recently released by the minister of state for development of northeast region and minister of state for prime minister office, Jitendra Singh, at the two-day FICCI Annual flagship Healthcare Conference - FICCI HEAL 2015.

The FICCI-KPMG report highlights how a robust healthcare system drives GDP growth in the presence of adequate investments and an encouraging environment by not only acting as a productivity and employment generator, but also as a magnet to attract foreign exchange earnings and provide opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship. With Indian healthcare workforce expected to double to 7.4 million in 2022 from 3.6 million in 2013 and the sector's revenue expected to grow by a robust 16 percent CAGR to $280 billion in 2020 from $73.92 billion in 2011, Indian healthcare sector has already established itself to be an important contributor to nation's GDP.

Another important finding of the report was that increasing investments, growing innovation and entrepreneurship are expected to enhance the size of the healthcare market, thereby increasing the contribution of the healthcare sector to India's GDP. India has received an aggregate of $377.3 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from April 2000 to May 2015. Hospitals and diagnostics centres received FDI of $3.1 billion, or about 1.21 per cent of the FDI inflow. The share of healthcare FDI has almost doubled since 2011, highlighting the growing interest of foreign players in the sector.

Only in India the healthcare financing is very small when compared to the financing by the other forces rather than the patient himself or herself paying out of pocket. Having 70-75% of the expenses as out-of-pocket, in my opinion, is not a right approach to managing healthcare in a country where the patients tend to sub-optimally purchase healthcare if he/she has to pay out-of-pocket.